Beyond Neutrality : Confronting the Crisis in Conflict Resolution

In this thought provoking, passionately written book, Bernard S. Mayer–an internationally acclaimed leader in the field–dares practitioners to ask the hard questions about alternative dispute resolution. What’s wrong with conflict resolution? Why aren’t more individuals and organizations using conflict resolution when they have a problem? Why doesn’t the public know more about it? What are the limits of conflict resolution? When does conflict resolution work and when does it not? Offering a committed practitioner’s critique of the profession of mediation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution, Beyond Neutrality focuses on the current crisis in the field of conflict resolution and offers a pragmatic response. Mayer urges practitioners to evolve from resolution to engagement and actual advocacy, going beyond neutrality in order to redefine conflict resolution at a level of participation more appropriate to the current era. Mayer argues that to be more effective, conflict resolution professionals must become conflict engagement specialists and thereby become a more powerful force for changing the way conflict is conducted. By building on the old roles of mediators and facilitators, conflict resolution professionals can dramatically expand what they offer to people in conflict. Beyond Neutrality challenges mediators, arbitrators, therapists, attorneys, and counselors to take conflict resolution to the next level of effectiveness, utility, and engagement.